- Day D-2 Leaving Imperial Beach, California
- Day D-1 Arriving in Fort Lauderdale
- Day 1- The Grand Voyage Begins! 115 Days
- Day 2 – At Sea – Enroute Costa Rica
- Day 3 – Cruising the Carribean
- Day 4 – At Sea Enroute to Costa Rica
- Day 5 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica
- Day 6- Cruising the Panama Canal
- Day 7 – Fuerte Amador, Panama
- Day 8 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 9 – At Sea enroute to Nuku Hiva
- Day 10, At Sea – Enroute Nuku Hiva
- Day 11 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 12 – Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 13, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 14, Sailing towards Nuku Hiva
- Day 15, Sailing toward Nuku Hiva
- Day 16, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia
- Day 17, Sailing toward Avatoru
- Day 18 – Avatoru, Rangiroa
- Day 19, Papeete, Tahiti and taking the ferry to Mo’orea
- Day 20, Moorea, French Polynesia
- Day 21, Sailing toward Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 22, Avatiu, Rarotonga
- Day 23, Sailing toward Waitangi, New Zealand
- Day 24, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 25, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 26, Sailing towards Waitangi
- Day 27, Waitangi (Bay of Islands) New Zealand
- Day 28, Auckland, New Zealand
- Day 29, Sailing toward Picton, New Zealand
- Day 30, Picton New Zealand
- Day 31, Sailing toward Melbourne, Australia
- Day 32, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 33, Sailing toward Melbourne
- Day 34, Melbourne, Australia
- Day 35, Sailing toward Sydney Australia
- Day 36, Sydney, Australia
- Day 37, Sydney, Australia
- Day 38, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 39, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 40, Sailing towards Townsville
- Day 41, Townsville, Australia
- Day 42, Cairns, Australia
- Day 43, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 44, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 45, Sailing towards Darwin, Australia
- Day 46, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
- Day 47, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 48, Sailing toward Benoa, Indonesia
- Day 49, Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
- Day 50, Sailing towards Semarang, Indonesia
- Day 51, Semarang, Java, Indonesia
- Day 52, Jakarta, Indonesia
- Day 53, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 54, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 55, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 56, Sailing toward Hong Kong
- Day 57, Hong Kong
- Day 58, Hong Kong
- Day 59, Hong Kong
- Day 60, Sailing toward Da Nang
- Day 61, Da Nang, Vietnam
- Day 62, Da Nang, Viet Nam
- Day 63, Sailing toward Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 64. Phu My, Vietnam
- Day 65, Siem Reap, Cambodia, Ms Amsterdam sailing toward Sihanoukville
- Day 66; Siem Reap to Sihanoukville – while Amsterdam is moored at Sihanoukville
- Day 67, Sailing toward Singapore
- Day 68, Singapore
- Day 69, Singapore
- Day 70, Singapore
- Day 71, Sailing toward Phuket, Thailand
- Day 72, Phuket, Thailand
- Day 73, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 74, Sailing toward Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 75, Hambantota, Sri Lanka
- Day 76, Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Day 77, Colombo, Sri Lanka to New Delhi, India
- Day 78, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 79, Agra, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 80, New Delhi, India (Ship sailing toward Dubai)
- Day 81, New Delhi to Dubai
- Day 82, Dubai, UAE
- Day 83, Dubai, UAE
- Day 84, Sailing toward Muscat
- Day 85, Muscat, Oman
- Day 86, Sailing toward Salalah, Oman
- Day 87, Salalah, Oman
- Day 88, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 89, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 90, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 91, Sailing toward Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 92, Al’Aqabah, Jordan
- Day 93, Sailing toward the Suez Canal
- Day 94, Transiting the Suez Canal
- Day 95, Haifa, Israel
- Day 96, Ashdod, Israel
- Day 97, Sailing toward Piraeus, Greece
- Day 98, Piraeus (Athens,) Greece
- Day 99, Katakolon, Greece
- Day 100, Sailing toward Civitavecchia, Italy
- Day 101, Civitavecchia, Italy
- Menus and On Locations updated…more posts coming soon
- Day 102, Livorno, Italy
- Day 103, Monte Carlo, Monaco
- Day 104, Barcelona, Spain
- Day 105, Sailing toward Cadiz
- Day 106, Cadiz, Spain
- Day 107, Sailing toward Funchal, Portugal
- Day 108, Funchal, Portugal
- Day 109, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 110, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 111, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 112, April 26, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 113, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 114, April 28, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 115, April 29, Sailing toward Fort Lauderdale
- Day 116, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Day 117, Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
- Day 118, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 119, Sailing towards Cartagena
- Day 120, Cartagena, Colombia
- Day 121, Transiting the Panama Canal
- Day 122, Sailing toward Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 123, Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- Day 124, Corinto, Nicaragua
- Day 125, Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala
- Day 126, Puerto Chiapas, Mexico
- Subscribe to this blog! – Check box at bottom of this page
- Day 127, Huatulco, Mexico
- Day 128, Sailing toward Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 129, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
- Day 130, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 131, Sailing toward San Diego, California
- Day 132, San Diego, California
- Opening the Package! What is inside?
- That’s Entertainment!
- PACKING FOR A WORLD CRUISE
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 1
- Amazing end of cruise video!
- How much does it cost to go on a world cruise? Part 2 – Pre and Post Cruise Expenses
- Holland America SELLS OUT 2017 World Cruise Inside Cabins – Segments still avail for less the $5,000 per cabin!
- How Much Does it Cost to Go on a World Cruise? Part 3 – Onboard Spending and Calculator
We arrived in Haifa early this morning, but before we could go ashore we would have to go thru a face to face immigration check with Israeli officials. The check would take place on Deck 5 in one corner of the dining room. The day before we received letters assigning us a number so they could call us down in specific groups to avoid long lines. About 7:30 am they started calling groups who were assigned letters beginning with “F” and then “S”. After about 10 minutes they started with the number 4. We were number 16, but we had no idea if that was 16 out of 16 or 16 out of 50. Our private tour was scheduled for 8:30 am, leaving us an hour to get processed, but we didn’t expect it to take that long. As time went by they started grouping numbers together and 8:15 am, 45 minutes after they started, they called groups 16 and 17, which turned out to be the final two groups.
Once we were on Deck 5, the line was only to the entrance to the Microsoft Classroom and moved quickly, almost to the point where you never really stopped. At the head of the line were a couple of tables with 4 officials going thru the passports and our landing cards. Back in 2008, Israel quit stamping passports because some Arab countries will not let you enter their country if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. In the place of passport stamps, they give you a landing card, which repeats some of the information in your passport and gives them a place to put a stamp showing the date you entered the country.
After I reached the front of the line, I handed my passport to the official who took a quick glance at my picture, then me and verified that the name on the landing card, matched the name in the passport. He then quickly thumbed through every page of my passport looking at the various stamps and visas without comment. I imagine if I had a stamp from Iran, Afghanistan or Yemen, I might have been asked to step aside for a one on one conversation. When complete he smiled and said “Welcome to Israel” and we were on our way.
We met our group outside the cruise terminal and it turns out we were the last to arrive as everyone else had lower numbers and went thru immigration sooner. It was still 10 minutes before our scheduled departure time so we were able to get off a little early. Note to future private tour organizers: Consider the size and configuration of the bus you are using and limit participation so no one is forced to use undesirable seats. Also consider singles and couples and how they may affect the seating use and allocation. If you leave 20% of the seats empty, you will probably pay a little more, but it will be worth the extra cost if you are going to spend a lot of time on a bus.
Our guide’s name was Yazel and after a brief introduction we were on our way to Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus.
After 45 minutes of driving thru Israel’s modern highways, with light traffic, we arrived at the Church of the Annunciation. This is the location where the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God. As we toured the beautiful church I realized what was probably obvious to others, that most of the structures and churches we would see today are relatively modern and not original to the time when Jesus was walking the streets. What was always more interesting was the terrain and physical features that have remained unchanged for the last 2000 years.
Judy collects the Robin Ruth hand bags known for having the names of cities written in a distinctive style. We found one in Dubai, but surprisingly we couldn’t find one in Hong Kong or Singapore. Judy was excited to see one in Nazareth with the distinctive logo spelling out the city name. Unfortunately, upon closer inspection, the bag was a knock off and not an original Robin Ruth. We’ll keep looking.
We spent about 1 hour touring the Church of Annunciation before we got back in the van to drove another hour to the Sea of Galilee where we would see the Benedictine Monastery and Church of Primacy of Saint Peter, in addition to the Sea of Galilee itself. The Sea of Galilee is the largest freshwater lake in Israel, about 13 miles long by 8 miles wide. It also sits about 700 feet below sea level.
The Benedictine Monastery sits on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and is where Jesus walked on water and the miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fishes occurred. The area surrounding The Sea of Galilee is green and covered with date palms and other vegetation. We walked down to a shaded area near the water’s edge where our guide read Bible verses applicable to where we were. It was interesting to hear the familiar stories in the actual area where the events occurred and try to visualize what it may have looked like here 2000 years ago. After listening to the verses, our group went down to the rocky beach – there wasn’t any sand – and spent a few minutes wading in the water and taking pictures. There were a couple dozen other people in the area posing for photos and walking up and down the shoreline, but we learned that it can get much busier during the peak tourist seasons. After about 10 minutes we headed back to our bus for a very short ride, only a couple of minutes, to our next stop: The Church of Primacy of St Peter.
We probably could have walked to the Church of Primacy of Saint Peter, which was built on the spot where Jesus reinstated Peter as the chief of his apostles, but we would save some time by driving even this short distance. It sits above the Sea of Galilee and has a wonderful view of the lake and surrounding area. The most prominent feature here is a large bronze statute depicting St Peter sitting on a rock inscribed with a verse from Matthew 16:18, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.”
Capharnaum, Jesus’s hometown after he left Nazareth, was our next stop and we spent about ½ hour exploring the area. It was also home to disciples Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew. There isn’t much left from that time, but it is also interesting walk around and get a feel for the area and imagine what it was like years ago.
It was time for lunch and we went to St Peter’s Restaurant, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The restaurant was a single, large room, containing moveable tables and chairs that can rearranged to accommodate many groups of different sizes. The buffet menu was simple enough for the waiter to simply list the choices: Tilapia Fish aka Sea of Galilee fish either served baked as a filet, or pan fried as the entire fish – bones and all. There was a salad bar available and a waitress pushed around a drink cart serving beer, soda or wine with the prices clearly marked in USD.
NOTE: We learned in many cases that the local “street” exchange rate of 4 Shekels to a $1 was actually better than the bank rate by about 5% since the conversion was so much easier using the 4-1 (Bank Rate was 3.76 shekels to the dollar). We didn’t go to any non-tourist areas, so maybe in other spots, the USD was less accepted, but if you stick to the tourist spots for the standard cruise ship day tours, I doubt if you need to change money.
The food was delicious and served promptly and we all settled our checks at the bar where they accepted credit cards or cash.
Our first stop after lunch was the Church of the Beatitudes which was constructed on the site where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon is Jesus’s longest on record and includes some of his best known teachings including the Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer. As I mentioned earlier, the modern structures and churches are interesting but unremarkable as compared to the exciting history the occurred in these locations and chance to take in the geography, flora and fauna which have remained largely unchanged over the years.
The Jordan River was the last stop in this area and is famous for being where Jesus was baptized by John. The visitor center sits about 50 feet above the river. They sell white robes and facilities to change if you would like to be baptized or simply immerse yourself in the river. The river itself is only about 75 feet across and doesn’t flow very swiftly. Yardenit runs the operation and the facility it is well maintained and organized, it wasn’t very crowded for our visit. It would be interesting to see how well it operates during a busy season. There is no admission fee to get to the Jordan River, but using the changing room costs about 50 cents. Judy went down to the edge and got her feet and hands wet, but no more. There was a steady stream of other visitors doing full immersion baptisms and there is a separate section for them.
Right before we returned to the ship we stopped by a vista point with a beautiful view of Haifa, the Amsterdam far below. It was peaceful for a few minutes until two other tour buses arrived and then we realized this stop was on everyone’s schedule.
Back in the cruise terminal we spent a few minutes shopping in the Duty Free shop but didn’t find anything of particular interest. The terminal has free Wi-Fi but as is usually the case, is unusable for anything more than downloading email, unless you find yourself with only a few other people.
There wasn’t any show tonight so we enjoyed another nice dinner in the Main Dining Room before heading off the bed. We didn’t leave port until 11:30 so there wasn’t any sail-away.
This entry was posted in 2016 Grand World Voyage, Haifa, Israel, Middle East